In-House Interview with Terry Blas

Besides providing artwork for the Madrugada story in the upcoming Other Worlds anthology, Terry Blas has created his own webcomic, Briar Hollow, completed a guest run on PVP, drawn a cover for Adventure Time, and produced his own podcast. Find out more in this week’s “in-house” interview.

AWBW: Tell us a little bit about your background? Did you always want to get into comic art, or did you start out in another field?

Terry: I wanted to be an animator when I was a kid. I always loved telling stories and when I realized comics were the best way for me to get across what I wanted it all made sense. Comics became everything for me.

AWBW: What was it like working with Justin Zimmerman on these stories, and did you find it to be different than the other comic projects you’ve worked on?

Terry: I came to Other Worlds after Justin Zimmerman asked me to draw a story. Working with him was fantastic. He came to me with a great story and a clear script and was a collaborative approach.AWBW: You recently completed a Artist in Residence guest-run on the PVP webcomic. How did that come about and what was it like working on it?

Terry: It’s a new thing PVP is doing and it was honor to be the first Artist in Residence. I was contacted by the guys at PVP and asked if I would like to do some strips. I adhered to the scripts they had, and it was so much fun. A dream come true really. My favorite character is Jade and I got to draw her in almost every strip. The feedback was great too. It was interesting to be a part of a comic that has inspired me so much and I feel like the whole process made me a better artist.

AWBW: You also have your own webcomic, Briar Hollow, which just finished up its fifth issue online. What can you tell us about that series?

Terry: Briar Hollow is a comic about nerds in college and learning to love and accept yourself for who you are. It mostly follows Molly, a self-proclaimed nerd, as she goes back to college and struggles with self confidence. My motivation behind creating it was to give myself a project where I could say something about things I was feeling (although not preachily) and also just to crank out a bunch of comic pages and make myself a better artist. I’ve had a blast doing it, and Volume 1 is almost completed.

AWBW: And if creating comics wasn’t enough, you also have your own podcast, the Gnerd Podcast. What’s that like?